Photosynthesis Lesson Reflection
Today I was observed on my lesson on photosynthesis. My goal was not to stray too far from Ms. A’s usual science routine while spicing up the note-taking portion of the lesson. The reading from the book was short so I knew I could spend a little more time on an activity. It would have been hard to conduct a short experiment on photosynthesis so instead I had the students draw a diagram of a leaf and visually show the process of photosynthesis. Because these students love drawing and the majority of the students are visual learners, I thought this would be a great idea.
The reading portion of the lesson went really well. The students seemed to be reading very fluently today and I was actually very impressed. I don’t know if they are just getting better at reading or if the text was a little easier than usual but they read better than I had expected them too. I think because the reading was more fluent it was easier for them to answer the questions I asked in relation to the text. The one problem I did encounter was the questions I asked them. I had written the questions down previous to the lesson and wanted to ask them as we read. However, the lesson and reading never goes as expected and it probably would have been more beneficial to come up with questions on the spot. I think they would have been better related to the student’s reading or would have been more understandable. I think writing them before hand was a good idea, but didn’t work out as I had anticipated. I definitely could have done a better job of questioning. Yet, I still think the students had a good understanding of the information that had been presented.
The diagram/writing portion of the lesson was a little more difficult. Many students were unable to draw a leaf. I should have anticipated this considering many of them cannot draw a web bubble on their own, yet I overlooked this detail while planning. I was able to draw the leaves for them, but thinking back it probably would have been helpful to just make a template for them to use. The writing was no more than they usually do, but it looked like a lot when presented on the white board. I think the students overestimated the amount of writing they had to do and didn’t know how to react. I actually started to fear that many of them wouldn’t finish copying the words in time. I anticipated students running out of room because of their excessively large handwriting, but only one student seemed to have a problem with spacing and I gave him a post-it to solve the problem. It was a good thing I stressed writing smaller and circled the room throughout in order to remind the large writers to keep the letter size to a minimum. I was impressed that a lot of students finished their diagrams in time for math and those that didn’t were very close to being done that I was able to squeeze it in later in the day. I think my favorite part about the diagram was that I was able to tape them into the student’s science notebooks for them to use for studying for a future exam. I don’t think this activity was as much fun as the students were expecting, but I think it was a lot more stimulating than copying definitions out of the glossary.
I think I could have expected a few of the problems that occurred throughout the lesson but overall I think the lesson went very well. I saw a lot of improvement in my pacing and was actually surprised that I finished just in time for math. In the future I would like to work on adding a bit more creativity to a lesson that seems a little bit bland. If given more time I probably would have had the students engage in a game. Instead, I did a quick wrap up which ensured student understanding. Walking away from this lesson, I feel confident that the objectives of the lesson have been met.
The reading portion of the lesson went really well. The students seemed to be reading very fluently today and I was actually very impressed. I don’t know if they are just getting better at reading or if the text was a little easier than usual but they read better than I had expected them too. I think because the reading was more fluent it was easier for them to answer the questions I asked in relation to the text. The one problem I did encounter was the questions I asked them. I had written the questions down previous to the lesson and wanted to ask them as we read. However, the lesson and reading never goes as expected and it probably would have been more beneficial to come up with questions on the spot. I think they would have been better related to the student’s reading or would have been more understandable. I think writing them before hand was a good idea, but didn’t work out as I had anticipated. I definitely could have done a better job of questioning. Yet, I still think the students had a good understanding of the information that had been presented.
The diagram/writing portion of the lesson was a little more difficult. Many students were unable to draw a leaf. I should have anticipated this considering many of them cannot draw a web bubble on their own, yet I overlooked this detail while planning. I was able to draw the leaves for them, but thinking back it probably would have been helpful to just make a template for them to use. The writing was no more than they usually do, but it looked like a lot when presented on the white board. I think the students overestimated the amount of writing they had to do and didn’t know how to react. I actually started to fear that many of them wouldn’t finish copying the words in time. I anticipated students running out of room because of their excessively large handwriting, but only one student seemed to have a problem with spacing and I gave him a post-it to solve the problem. It was a good thing I stressed writing smaller and circled the room throughout in order to remind the large writers to keep the letter size to a minimum. I was impressed that a lot of students finished their diagrams in time for math and those that didn’t were very close to being done that I was able to squeeze it in later in the day. I think my favorite part about the diagram was that I was able to tape them into the student’s science notebooks for them to use for studying for a future exam. I don’t think this activity was as much fun as the students were expecting, but I think it was a lot more stimulating than copying definitions out of the glossary.
I think I could have expected a few of the problems that occurred throughout the lesson but overall I think the lesson went very well. I saw a lot of improvement in my pacing and was actually surprised that I finished just in time for math. In the future I would like to work on adding a bit more creativity to a lesson that seems a little bit bland. If given more time I probably would have had the students engage in a game. Instead, I did a quick wrap up which ensured student understanding. Walking away from this lesson, I feel confident that the objectives of the lesson have been met.